Hagerty Hall of Fame Ken MacStephen

Ken MacStephen has won practically every award the Antique and Classic Boat Society hands out, from chapter honors to national awards to international merit. So his induction into the Hagerty Marine Hall of Fame wasn’t a matter of “if” as much as a matter of “when.”

“I’ve been around a bit,” the 71-year-old MacStephen said of his involvement in the classic wooden boat community. “I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of people, make a lot of friends and see a lot of beautiful places. Receiving recognition for doing something you enjoy – that’s a bonus.”

MacStephen grew up on a farm in Canada but gravitated toward the local marina on Lake Ontario’s Picton Bay.

“I loved to watch the races,” he said of his childhood boating interest. “I didn’t own (a boat), but I loved them.”

That was the extent of MacStephen’s involvement until his brother-in-law, the late Don Thomas, invited him to go to a boat show. MacStephen had so much fun that he threw out a suggestion – phrased in the form of a question – that changed his life: “Why don’t we do this in Toronto?”

Before long, MacStephen and friends did just that, forming the ACBS Toronto Chapter in 1980.

“We started in debt, but a member gave us $4,000 and we were off,” he said. “We’ve been successful because we’ve had good people and no politics. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that this is not a business. It’s supposed to be fun, so loosen up a bit and enjoy it.”

A year after the Toronto Chapter was formed, MacStephen finally acquired his first boat, a 1911 W.H. Mullins Launch.

“I was 40 at the time and my kids were young, so they grew up on that boat,” MacStephen said of his children, Georgianna (now 41) and Jay (now 39). “Still have it. We’ve used it every year since.”

It should come as no surprise then that MacStephen hates to see classic boats become trailer queens: “We always used ours because that’s what they were built for.”

MacStephen, who is a member of the ACBS Toronto Honour Roll, said he is proud of his efforts with the chapter, which now has 1,400 members. He is a past president and has served on the board of directors, but after 32 years he is slowing down a bit.

“I’m not as involved as I used to be,” said MacStephen, who had a career as a retirement counselor before retiring himself. “I’ve been going to the Clayton (Antique Boat) Show since 1979, and I just got back from that. So I’m still out and about. But this is my swan song.”